Pete, magnification is not important in a telescope. While there is a limit on how low the magnification you can get to (magnification = telescope focal length divided by eyepiece focal length), you can get any magnification you want on the other scale. Of course, you can only push that magnification up to a certain point before the image starts to degrade, and a common accepted maximum magnification that a telescope is able of producing is about 40-50 times per inch of aperture. That means for a 3" refractor you are looking at now, you will only be able to get a decent image up to about 120-150x magnification. If you want you can get 2000x magnification from it by stacking some barlows before the eyepiece, but you will see junk.
Since the amount of detail you will see in astronomy is typically determined by the light gathering abilities, or the resolution, of the optics, larger aperture scopes will nearly always show more.
Edit: BTW, I had to wait 9 years for one of my telescopes. At times I have to wait months before weather or time permits me to observe. Astronomy can definitely require patience at times
